Tuesday, 30 September 2014

If you've been following the blog recently you'll have seen my take on the 2.5D dungeon system (if not, you can find it HERE).

Anyway, since then I've been experimenting with a couple of simple pillar/column pieces (as seen in the image below)...

...and if you'd like to have a go at making a few yourself - here's how I did it...

* * *

The first thing you'll need to do is download and print out THIS pdf file (which contains all of the textures needed to create these pillars).

Next, take an empty toilet roll tube and cut it down the middle (lengthways):

Then, lay the tube on a cutting mat, and cut it to a height of 2" (note that you should be able to get two pieces this size from a regular toilet roll).

The next step will depend on how fat/thin you want you columns to be - but in this example I'm making them around 3/4" in diameter ...and so cutting the above piece in half (making two 2" x 3" pieces) is plenty big enough.

Once that's done, simply bend the curved part of the toilet roll around something circular (to reduce the diameter of the tube) and glue the 'overlap' together.

Note that I'm using the syringe that I use for refilling my printer's ink cartridges in this example - as it's the perfect size. When doing this yourself, try and find something roughly 3/4" in diameter, as we need the pillar to be smaller than the 1" base that we'll be gluing it to.

(I like to wrap an rubber band around the piece while it dries)

The next step is to cut a length of the 'pillar' pattern from the pdf file provided (in this instance a 3" length should be more than enough)...

...and glue it around tube:

* * *

For the pillar's base, simply cut out a 2" square from the 'stone' pattern provided in the pdf, and a 1" square of thick (double-corrugated) cardboard (though foamboard might be a better option if you have it):

Then glue the cardboard to the back of the paper...

...cut little slits in the paper that will allow you to wrap it around the cardboard...

...and glue the tabs in place.

* * *

At this point you should have a square base for your pillar, as well as the pillar itself...

...which just need to be glued together with a hot glue gun:

And that's it!

Note that if you're creating the pillars the same size as those above, then each toilet roll and printout should yield four pillars.

Wednesday, 17 September 2014

If you're not familiar with the 2.5D dungeon method, then I'd recommend you take a look at some of the videos on The DM's Craft or TheDMGinfo's youtube channels first.

As you'll see (if you watched any of the aforementioned videos), the idea is to give a bit more depth to regular two-dimensional dungeon tiles by including a slightly raised area around the edge of each tile to represent the walls.

Well, I've been meaning to have a go at something like that for a while now - but instead of painting the cardboard (like the above you-tuber's do), I thought I would make a couple of custom images that I could print out and simply glue to the cardboard (much like AJ does in THIS video ...but have the wall and floor pattern as separate sheets to make things a little easier)

So, here's what I've come up with...

- a selection of the finished tiles -

- those same tiles arranged into a little dungeon -

They're pretty easy to make ...as all you need to do is print off the wall and floor patterns that I've supplied in THIS pdf file (note that you'll only need to print 1 'wall' pattern for every 4-5 'floor' patterns) and glue them down to a sheet of thick (double-corrugated) cardboard.

Then simply cut the floor pattern into the size/shape you require (remembering to include a half inch gap around the edge to accommodate the walls) and cut the walls into half inch wide strips ...as shown below:

(note that I've printed these on regular paper and in draft/low quality - as that is sufficient for this project)

The next (and final) step is to trim the wall strips to the length you require, and glue them around the edge of the tile (leaving a gap of 2 squares for any entrances/exits):

(in this example I'm making a small 'passage corner' piece)

And that's pretty much all there is to it :)

However, you'll notice that I've also included a door assembly in the pdf download ...and to make these I've simply glued the front and back image to a thick piece of (double-corrugated) cardboard, and the base to a piece of thinner (single-corrugated) cardboard. The two pieces where then stuck together with the aid of a hot-glue gun.

(note that I've made these slightly smaller than 2" wide - just to make placing/removing them a little easier).

And there you have it. A nice and easy (and cheap) way of creating your own 2.5D dungeon :)

- a few of the old D&D pre-painted miniatures thrown in for scale -

* * * *

TL;DR here's a free pdf file that you can use to create some 2.5D dungeon tiles like those pictured above:

Monday, 8 September 2014

If you saw my blog post from earlier today, there's a chance that you might have noticed that the dungeon tile (that the miniatures where photographed on) doesn't appear in any of the current tile sets.

Well, if you did spot it (or have been following my recent G+ posts) you'll (hopefully) be pleased to know that you can get this new sewer tile by clicking HERE

Note that this new tile might eventually end up in a 'miscellaneous expansion pack' at some point in the future - but since I'm not really working on dungeon tiles at the moment, I thought I'd share it now :)

A little while back I had a go at making a couple of tentacles miniatures from a cheap toy octopus (which can be seen in these three pictures 123), and since it didn't turn out too bad, I've been thinking of doing something similar with any other cheap toys that I find.

Well, a couple of weeks back I managed to pick up a pack of small bugs for £1 (from the local Poundland store)...

...and, admittedly, on their own they don't look like anything special:

The ant, maggot, and spider

But after super-gluing* them to some small mdf bases, 'flocking' those bases with the same cheap bird sand & grit that I used HERE, and giving them a quick coat of paint ...the finial result isn't so bad:

*note that I glued the 'feet' down individually, in order to reposition the legs slightly, and thus, get a slightly better pose ...as can be seen on the finished spider miniature.

And, if you're thinking of creating a bunch of these yourself ...perhaps for use in an Age of Shadow encounter ...then I've also put together a quick monster description and statblock that will allow you to do just that :)

Oh ...and here's a quick look at how you can piece all of this year's maps together (though it's worth noting that they can be put together in lots of different ways, and that they are compatible will all the geomorph-style maps that I've been posting here over the past few years):

Monday, 1 September 2014

My (somewhat ambitious, and possibly a little foolish) plan to draw enough building maps to eventually populate an entire settlement, continues to take shape with the release of another map-pack for the Into the City range...

Like those before it, this map-pack includes:

a pdf booklet containing a labelled version of the map.

an unlabelled jpg image of the building (scaled at 100 pixels per grid square